It’s a good thing that Margaret is so darn sweet, or at least has me so thoroughly mind-controlled, because I fear that she is two before her time.

We have (and have had for several months) tantrums. They aren’t frequent, but there is the back-arching refusal to get into the stroller when she would prefer to walk. Normally I am willing to let her walk, but we do live in a city with some “interesting” driving on the part of many motorists, and there are times when her normal walking speed just won’t get us where we need to be on time. I’m not sure how Warren and Jomkwan manage when she puts all her strength into resisting being put in the stroller, but I use the brute-force method, and let me tell you, you’d be amazed at how difficult it is to get an actively resisting 23 pound toddler into an umbrella stroller.

There is also the no thing. She’s been saying it more and more often now, probably because we do respond to it. Normally when she says no, we honor that choice. Sometimes, though, she says it when “no” is not an option. I feel bad, especially because she is so cute when she says it. It sounds like “nu”, and is accompanied by head shaking and a tone of deep regret. It’s as if she’s saying, “I’m terribly sorry Mommy, but I’m afraid you simply can not change me out of my pajamas.” Unfortunately for her she gets changed anyway when the pajamas in question are covered in yogurt and I need to get her dressed before I head off to work.

I’m really enjoying this part of her childhood more than I expected I would. She is asserting her independence and making her will known, but she is also more actively showing us signs of affection. I get spontaneous hugs and kisses and cuddles, and it is just wonderful. She may well be entering into the phase where she expects the world to bend to her every whim, but at least she seems to be using charm to make it easier on the rest of us. I’m guessing world domination is just around the corner.

:) When Dorothy was a baby, someone told us, "You spend the first 18 months of their life convincing them that they're the center of the universe, and the next 18 years convincing them that they're not." We keep telling Howard that he's only got a month left before everything changes!